KSB, Whiteside health clinic included in omnibus spending bill

KSB Hospital, a Whiteside County health clinic and the Morrison Institute of Technology were included in the omnibus spending bill passed by the U.S. Senate and is headed to the desk of President Joe Biden.

[ Morrison Institute of Technology eyes $1.5 million in federal funds for automation annex at its Innovation Center ]

A news release issued jointly by Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth detailed the $211 million Congressionally-directed spending for Illinois projects.

Here is a rundown of the projects in the Sauk Valley:

KSB Hospital: $334,000 to renovate three labor and delivery rooms to include new casework, lighting equipment and restroom facilities. It comes for the apportion for Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration.

Community Health Clinic: $1 million for Whiteside County for county-operated clinic expansion. This came from the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education section.

Morrison Institute of Technology: $1.5 million to expand its Automation Annex, which will house equipment, classrooms and lab space. This allocation was from Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

The spending included projects that had a regional or statewide impact:

There is also $575,000 for the Illinois Secretary of the State Police to purchase a robot that can be used to identify, analyze and neutralize explosives or hazardous materials.

The Energy and Water section also included $45.1 million for the Corps of Engineers to fund the program to expand and modernize seven locks at congested locations along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Some of the funding will be used in a larger, $1.7 billion ecosystem restoration of those waterways.

Illinois Department of Transportation will get $8.25 million to provide grant funding to downstate transit districts for new electric buses and charging infrastructure.

“This appropriations package invests in the future of Illinois,” Durbin said. “The use of Congressionally-directed spending provides Members of Congress, who know their states and districts better than federal agency personnel in Washington, with the ability to direct federal funding to priority projects in their communities.  This much-needed federal funding will help localities in Illinois launch important infrastructure projects, improve access to health care, advance environmental conservation, strengthen community violence prevention initiatives, support nonprofits doing important work throughout our state, and much more.”

“I’m pleased I was able to secure funding for important projects that will help clean up our water, improve our state’s infrastructure, expand healthcare access, create jobs and tackle environmental injustice issues facing communities across Illinois,” said Duckworth.